What age did you career change?

[Allispretty]

Inspired by another thread on here I'm curious to find out when or if people changed their careers and what age? I'm 33 work in HR feel like I've never really got anywhere and am in fact going backwards despite having worked really hard toward my professional quals.

To progress in my current company I'd need to be able to travel, I have an 8 year old dc so it's not an option at the minute, always felt like I should be in a role that's giving back (charity, Mh work etc) but I want an actual career. No degree so I'd need to go back to study.

If you changed your career what age did you do it and what vocation/career did you move to? Are you glad you did it?

I started retraining last year at 36. Teaching into pharmacy.

I was 34. I was an R&D scientist, I’m now a patent attorney. No regrets at all. I’ve pretty much quadrupled my salary in the past decade.

Aged 31. From retail management to pet business owner.

Best decision I've ever made!

I changed careers at 31 from frontline services and am now a senior manager writing complex bids and tenders. I love it. I got some experience through contacts and took a lower paid job to start and worked up.

In my forties

I don't want to say on here from what to what, but I successfully career changed ten years ago in my mid-40s. I'm very glad I did it.

@OublietteBravo

I was 34. I was an R&D scientist, I’m now a patent attorney. No regrets at all. I’ve pretty much quadrupled my salary in the past decade.

Do you mind me asking if you have much work life balance or do you work a lot of hours outside of a normal 9-5? And would you mind me asking if you have kids?

I'd love to work in the legal industry but I know I couldn't hack working 7am-10pm every day

Mid forties.

My mum retrained at 50 and had a new career for 12 years before retiring - that was after years of being a stay at home mum and then working lots of retail jobs until she had enough and decided to mix things up and get a career

Never too late I don’t think

35

First time at 26, second time at 46. No regrets so far.

Early/mid 40s. I didn't retrain, just got a job in a completely different environment, learnt as I went along.

I'm mid 40s and thinking of doing this

@Heyahun thanks for sharing that, it's very inspiring to hear. Wondering what your mum did?

Thanks @Woolysock -it’s on Ireland so the path she followed may be slightly different to the U.K. - she started volunteering at the local school with a reading program that was in place for children that were struggling - she was she then asked to cover for some of the special needs assistants for a week of paid work while someone was off sick - loved it! She was in a mainstream classroom helping a child while needed some extra assistance !

She then decided to pursue a course to get a qualification in this area - the school continued to call her any time they needed someone to cover while she studied! She was able to do her placement at the school she was already working at

Literally a few weeks after she received her qualification- the school principle called to let her know a full time job had become available and would she like to interview - she did and got the job!

Her first year was again in mainstream class room working with 1 child with autism who needed 1-1 assistance!

Then a position the next year came up in the special autistic unit within the school (around 10 children) - she went on another course in order to be able to work in the unit! Ended up working in the unit then for the next 9 or so years!

She found it a challenge but also really really rewarding - she was really brilliant at what she did!!

I've worked in admin since the age of 21 in a variety of places. Now at the age of 39, I start university next week to study for a diploma in counselling for 2 years with an optional extra year to make a degree. Pooping my pants but excited at the same time to actually do something that I believe I'm good at and just 'feels right'.

I'm 35 and in the middle of a career change. I was a primary school teacher and now I'm doing a paid apprenticeship with a pharmaceutical company. I'm being put through university by them too, it's a degree in microbiology/pharmaceutical science. I work in the micro lab. I am loving it.
It's Never to late OP...if you want a change then go for it!

Wow some really interesting posts here thank you all! I think I need to have a good think about what path I want to take. I had a place at uni at 22 to study Mh nursing and didn't take it as I had to be truthful to myself and realise I could never be a nurse as I hate blood!🤣

@Heyahun thanks so much, great story, truly inspiring, your mum sounds amazing! Hope your mum is enjoying her well earned retirement.

Thanks for starting this thread op and thanks everyone for sharing their stories, very interesting and encouraging to read. Good luck op you are still young, your DS will be in secondary school before you reach 40 so lots of opportunity to progress in whatever you choose to do. Best of luck.

@MrsWhistledown

I do have kids. My DC were 4 and 5 when I started retraining (7 and 9 when I qualified; 14 and 16 now).

I’m in-house rather than private practice, so can only really comment on my experiences. They’re quite different career tracks.

My job is usually office hours only (there is the occasional emergency when I work stupid hours, but it’s rare - happens roughly once every couple of years). In normal times I arrive in the office at 07:45 and leave at 16:30.

It was office hours plus revision during my training period though (minimum of 3 years, exams happen once per year). The exams are notoriously difficult (roughly 50% of people resit one or more of the papers). In the 6 months preceding EQEs (European Qualifying Exams) I revised 2 hours every weekday evening and 5 hours every weekend in addition to working FT.